sharing the spotlight in amherst was former utah governor jon huntsman, the most moderate of the candidates vying for the anti-romney vote. huntsman has already ruled out competing in iowa and understands new hampshire is a must-win state. >> it is absolutely central to victory. this is a state you must win. >> reporter: in iowa, which votes first in a presidential contest, candidates were fighting for the social conservative vote. there were long shots newt gingrich and rick santorum. as well as tea party sensation michele bachmann. a recent poll has the minnesota congresswoman in a statistical dead heat with romney while gingrich and santorum barely made a dent in the single digits. tim pawlenty also polled poorly there. he raised a disappointing $4.2 million this quarter and has had no public event over the holiday weekend. but those in the bottom half of the poll can take comfort in the fact that the early polls don't tell us that much. this time four years ago mike huckabee was way down at 4% right where rick santorum is today. huckabee ended up winning iowa. >> jan crawford in washing